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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

On behalf of Fringe fans everywhere, I would like to thank Edgar Renteria and the rest of the San Francisco Giants for putting the Texas Rangers out of their misery and winning the World Series last night. By eliminating the need for a sixth and seventh game, the Giants insured us that Fox will indeed be able to air a new episode of the acclaimed sci-fi drama that was four episodes into its so-far sensational third season before it was rudely interrupted by the so-called America’s Pastime. (Sorry for my sarcasm. But with apologies to Tim “The Freak” Lincecum, Fringe is the only freak-of-the-week drama I want to be watching right now.)

When we last left the story three weeks ago, Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham took their romance to the next level by finally going horizontal — except the Olivia Dunham in question is actually “Bolivia,” Olivia’s genetic doppelgänger from the imperiled parallel dimension currently at war with our own. Peter can’t tell the difference between Earth A Olivia and Earth B Olivia. Or can he? Here’s a theory for you: What if the super-smart ex-con man has long had suspicions about his FBI agent girlfriend, but he’s been trying to deny them out of fear of sabotaging his happiness with Olivia? And what if the ironic consequence of having sex with Bolivia, of taking their relationship to a deeper, more intimate level, is that Peter has the epiphany that his suspicions are actually correct? (I knew there was something strange about you, but I was never able to put my finger on it. But now that I’ve had my fingers all over you, it becomes clear to me that you’re an impostor! How dare you come over here and take advantage of me like that! Now… can we do it again?)

It will be another week before we get any more intel on the Peter-Bolivia drama, as Thursday’s episode focuses on the drama unfolding on Earth B. The Olivia Dunham of Earth A has been brainwashed by “Walternate” into thinking she’s actually Bolivia (to buy Walternate some time to study her and figure out how she’s physically capable of toggling between parallel worlds) and going on missions with Bolivia’s cohorts in Earth’s B’s own version of Fringe division. (None of them know the truth about Olivia except their supervisor, Broyles. Should he get a funky alt-world name, too? If only this Broyles had an English accent, we could call him … London Broyles!) But Olivia is beginning to crack — her brain is coughing up visions of Peter, trying to convince her that her life is a lie — and the drama intensifies in this week’s episode.

For a sneak peek at this week’s episode, check out the exclusive clip below. I’d tell you more about it, but due to one of those weird tech things, I actually can’t see it myself until I actually post this. (I can explain parallel worlds to you, but I don’t know jack about this video embedding stuff.) And then, after watching the episode on Thursday, make sure you come back here for Ken Tucker’s recap. Glad to have Fringe back — and again, thanks to the Texas Rangers for making it happen. Your lack of clutch hitting is totally appreciated!